A silver halide color photographic material (hereinafter referred to as "light-sensitive material") has a multilayered light-sensitive structure consisting of three silver halide emulsion layers each selectively sensitized to be sensitive to blue light, green light and red light. These layers are coated on a support. In conventional negative and color reversal films, a blue-sensitive emulsion layer, a green-sensitive emulsion layer and a red-sensitive emulsion layer are arranged in a multilayer construction in this order from the surface to be exposed to light. Furthermore, a bleachable yellow filter layer or antihalation layer, an intermediate layer, or a protective layer may be added to the above construction depending on the application.
Known processes for the formation of color photographic images are divided broadly into two categories, i.e., an additive process and a subtractive process. In the latter type of process, photographic couplers forming three colors, i.e., yellow, magenta and cyan, are incorporated in the light-sensitive layers. The light-sensitive material which has been imagewise exposed to light undergoes color development by a color developing agent.
In color development, an aromatic primary amine contained in the color developing agent and a photographic coupler present in the light-sensitive material undergo an oxidation coupling reaction. As a result, an indophenol or an azomethine color forming dye is produced. In order to provide a color photographic image having an excellent color reproducibility, it is essential that the color forming dyes thus produced be fresh cyan, magenta and yellow dyes having less side absorption.
The above-mentioned cyan dyes have an unnecessary absorption of magenta and yellow components, and the magenta dyes have an unnecessary absorption of yellow and cyan components. This disadvantage has resulted in a lesser ability to reproduce colors of a subject having a high chroma. In order to improve color reproducibility, efforts have been made to reduce such an unnecessary absorption. Further, in order to eliminate this problem of poor color reproducibility due to unnecessary absorption, attempts have been made to improve interlayer and multilayer effects upon development. However, these approaches have failed to solve the problems related to poor color reproducibility.
On the other hand, it is known that color reproducibility can be greatly affected by spectral sensitivity. Moreover, it is difficult to precisely reproduce purple without deteriorating the red chroma. Therefore, various efforts have been made to eliminate this problem. For example, if the wavelength of the maximum spectral sensitivity of the red-sensitive emulsion layer is set at a relatively long wavelength range, e.g., 650 to 660 nm, in order to prevent deterioration of red chroma, purple is reproduced to a reddish purple-based color short of cyan.
On the contrary, if the spectral sensitivity of the red-sensitive emulsion layer is set at a slightly shorter wavelength range, purple is more precisely reproduced, but the sensitivity of the red-sensitive emulsion layer to red light becomes insufficient. Red is thus reproduced to a color with a tincture of cyan, resulting in lower chroma.
An example of an approach to improve the color reproducibility of a color photographic light-sensitive material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,898. In this approach, changes in color reproducibility are reduced when photographing is conducted under various light sources having different color temperatures. However, if the spectral sensitivity specified in this patent is used, the spectral sensitivity of the red-sensitive emulsion layer is set at too short a wavelength range. As a result, the sensitivity of the red-sensitive emulsion layer to red light is poor. Therefore, red is reproduced to a color with an extremely high tincture of cyan, resulting in lower chroma. Further, purple is reproduced to a color with a tincture of cyan.
Therefore, it has been desired to improve the purple reproducibility of a photographic light-sensitive material without causing any deterioration of the chroma, especially of red.